Streets Ahead – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this episode, Laura chats to Melissa Bruntlett about her new book, Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation.

Melissa is an urbanist, author, and founder of Modacity, an urban mobility consultancy - and one half of urbanist power couple, Chris and Melissa Bruntlett. 

Melissa and Chris have authored two books to date, Building the Cycling City, and Curbing Traffic. Their social media posts from around the world feature positive examples of change, and inspiration for other cities and advocates. Originally from Canada, the couple have settled in the Netherlands, and often share experiential learning from one of the world’s greatest cycling nations.  

The book's narrative begins with pandemic street changes, and asks what was going on, beyond the public health emergency, that allowed the urban landscape to change? Why can cities do things differently at certain points in time, and how are women a part of that. The Bruntletts argue it's about listening and being humble, and taking that listening and humility with you into streetspace solutions. There are stories from leadership in Paris, Barcelona, Montreal and Bogota. There is also a grassroots angle, looking at a groundswell from young people in Manila, that spurred bike lanes in the city.

The book: Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation, by Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, is out in October 2025: https://www.ribabooks.com/Women-Changing-Cities-Global-stories-of-urban-transformation_9781915722409

Melissa's project, Modacity Creative: https://modacitycreative.com/

Melissa and Chris' work: https://www.modacitylife.com/

For ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Bluesky and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://bsky.app/profile/podstreetsahead.bsky.social

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Streets Ahead's presenters, well at least two of them, have been gallivanting around Europe in recent weeks, coming back together in this episode as a trio to embark on an audio roam through some of the current topics in cycling. From the link between bike racing and everyday cycling, to the spending review's implications, to the rise of 'fake e-bikes', a recent report which Laura and Adam worked on, we have it all here.

Links from the show:

The Robert Frost poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening

Cycling superstar, Cat Ferguson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Ferguson

The Spending Review: https://transportactionnetwork.org.uk/spending-review-cuts-active-travel-funding-by-40/

Transport for New Homes' research on car dependency in new housing. https://www.transportfornewhomes.org.uk/the-project/building-car-dependency/ and its award for the Bath Riverside housing development: https://www.transportfornewhomes.org.uk/transport-for-new-homes-award-bath-riverside/

And the recent e-bike report, by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Walking and Cycling, authored by Laura Laker: https://appgcw.org/resources/inquiries/unregulated-and-unsafe-the-threat-of-illegal-e-bikes/

For ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on BlueSky and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://bsky.app/profile/podstreetsahead.bsky.social

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Our last episode, an interview with Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh MP, caused a bit of a storm and went viral. Laura's interview was picked up by a host of UK national media including BBC News, The Sun, GB News, The Times and more.

We discuss how the story happened, what it means for active travel - and why the wider media picked up on it so extensively. Helping us navigate this is Henry Zeffman, the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent and contributor to BBC Newscast.

By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think!

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Louise Haigh MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, joins Laura Laker on Streets Ahead for an insightful discussion on the future of active travel in the UK. From her own cycling experiences to the role of walking and cycling in tackling public health and climate challenges, Haigh outlines her vision for a national integrated transport strategy that prioritises active travel and discusses "unprecedented funding", as well as her support for councils implementing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. Ned, Adam and Laura discuss the interview and what it means for the direction of travel for cycling, walking and wheeling in the UK.

By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Laura travels to Paris, to meet one of the campaigners behind a successful push to put cycling at the heart of the city's transport plans for the 2024 Olympics. Paris en Selle is one of a cohort of campaign groups who staged an 'Olympic relay' protest that inspired Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to roll out cycleways linking every one of the city's 35 Games venues. This would mean visitors and staff could get to events in a healthy, sustainable way without overwhelming the existing transport network.

What followed, within two years, was the rollout of an impressive 34 miles of routes that met, campaigners say, 90% of the brief given to city officials. Even previously reluctant boroughs, they say, were persuaded to do their part. In addition, 20,000 new cycle parking spaces, many but not all temporary, were introduced. Some cycleways are shared bus lanes, but for the most part what's been built is dedicated cycle lanes.

We would like to thank Paris en Selle's Corentin Roudaut, who used his lunch break from his day job to give Streets Ahead listeners a tour of the rapid transformation over the last two years.

Find out more about Paris en Selle's advocacy work: https://parisenselle.fr. The campaign group even produced their own guide to help Games visitors get around during the Olympics https://parisenselle.fr/2024/07/17/cycle-around-paris-during-the-olympics/

Read Laura's CityLab piece about Paris' Olympic cycling transformation: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-24/paris-summer-olympics-2024-cycling-at-the-games-bike-lanes-parking-sharing

By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time we're talking with our guest about life across the Pond. If early US cities were inherently walkable, what on earth happened? Is an active travel revolution possible in such a car-centric nation? Why are there parking minimums in new developments? And what on Earth is Euclidian zoning?!

John Simmerman, of the Active Towns podcast and YouTube channel, joins Adam and Laura at the start of a two month European odyssey, to talk about his work promoting active lives in the US.

John spent the first 15 years of his career promoting healthy living among employees in the corporate world, before shifting his focus to the built environment and its impact on health. In the USA, roads and motor traffic dominate public space, and interstate freeways divide and segregate communities, often along racial and socioeconomic lines. John's videos and podcast promote the benefits of walkable, bikeable costs both in terms of health and beyond, to quality of life and community vibrancy.

Links:

You can find out more about Active Towns, and John's work, here: https://www.activetowns.org; and his YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/activetowns

Euclid, it turns out, is a US village where zoning powers were first established by a local government.

And Adam shared that Simpsons clip on Twitter a while back: https://twitter.com/i/status/1347530929816932353

By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think.

Episode edited by Clare Mansell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam's left his job, Ned's won an award, Laura's touring the country, oh, and there's a general election in the UK. It's been quite a hectic few weeks at Streets Ahead.

By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think.

Episode edited by Clare Mansell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura's got a book out and we're here to plug it, 1) because it's brilliant and 2) because it'd be awkward if we didn't.

Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network is the story of the UK's fitful, sometimes painful transformation from a car-dependent nation of villages, towns and cities into a connected, bikeable network of communities.

It's out on 9th May at all good bookstores. Go and get a copy!

Buy: https://linktr.ee/lauralakerpotholesandpavements

For in-person events, head to laura-laker.com/book.

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By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think.

Episode edited by Clare Mansell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special emergency episode, Ned and Adam try to make sense of the Plan for Drivers announcement. What does it mean for active travel and public transport? Will it actually change anything? What are the politics behind the announcement?

You can read the Low Traffic Neighbourhood review here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-traffic-neighbourhood-review

In the episode, Adam mentioned there wasn't reference to air quality on boundary roads. The report actually said the view is mixed: "LTNs have succeeded in improving air quality on internal roads but this benefit has not always been shared with boundary locations which show a mix of minimal reductions, no reductions and some increases in emissions of air pollutants."

The fourth location for the LTN review was Wigan, in addition to London, Birmingham and York.

By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think.

Episode edited by Clare Mansell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From lost panniers, stolen bikes and a proposed HS2 cycleway - this is our podcast without portfolio (our favourite kind) where we chew the fat on active travel.

By the way, if you want ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes and bonus content and to help support the podcast - head to (https://www.patreon.com/StreetsAheadPodcast). We’ll even send you some stickers! 

We’re also on Twitter and welcome your feedback on our episode: https://twitter.com/podstreetsahead

If you're reading this, please can you take 1 minute to give us a rating and write a review? It helps us more than you probably think.

Episode edited by Clare Mansell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.